


Soul mates are for children, but maybe this means something

by Autumnalpalmetto



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Established Relationship, Hufflepuff!Andrew, M/M, Slytherin!Neil, keeper!andrew, seeker!neil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21767320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autumnalpalmetto/pseuds/Autumnalpalmetto
Summary: for Gayedeath on tumblrHarry Potter AU with AndreilAndrew walked through the library, gently cradling his teacup under his cloak. He looked down every aisle he passed, searching for Neil who was always here at this time of day. Finally, he spotted him in the far corner, the place that they usually met up. However, this time Neil was sitting with Matt and having a lively conversation. Andrew threw a piece of parchment down on the table between them.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 31
Kudos: 451
Collections: AFTG Exchange Winter 2019





	Soul mates are for children, but maybe this means something

Andrew walked through the library, gently cradling his teacup under his cloak. He looked down every aisle he passed, searching for Neil who was always here at this time of day. Finally, he spotted him in the far corner, the place that they usually met up. However, this time Neil was sitting with Matt and having a lively conversation. Andrew threw a piece of parchment down on the table between them.

“Fix it,” he said as he looked between Neil and the paper. 

Matt looked up at him with wide eyes, then back down to Neil. “I’ll see you later.”

As soon as Matt stood up Andrew stole his seat. Neil looked over the nearly blank sheet of parchment, turning a raised eyebrow to Andrew.

“What am I fixing?”

“I just wanted him to go away,” Andrew said, rolling the paper back up.

Neil smiled at him. “I thought Hufflepuff’s were supposed to be kind and friendly.”

“Everyone knows Hufflepuff is where they put the children no one wants, Neil,” Andrew said with an eye roll. 

“Is that why Knox is there?”

“Do you want to live with Captain Sunshine all the time? Because let me tell you, that shit gets annoying fast.”

Neil laughed unrestrained. It was the kind of laugh he reserved for when they were alone, which they basically were tucked back this far into the stacks of books. Andrew wanted to kiss the smile off of his face, but he’d come here for a reason.

“Was there something you needed help with?” Neil asked. The only possible answer was divinations. 

Everyone thought Andrew was bad with divination because it was emotional magic and they assumed he had none, but it was really the opposite. Andrew had felt so much for so long that he’d locked it safely away. Even now his feelings were too strong when they made their way out of the cage, that’s what made divinations difficult for him. It either refused to come to him or came all at once and was impossible to decipher. 

Andrew pulled out the teacup and set it on the table. “I need to do a reading for an assignment.”

“Ahh.” Neil leaned back in his chair, giving Andrew just enough room to sit on the edge between his legs. “The usual then?”

Only when Andrew felt completely and utterly safe could he do a proper reading. During exams, Professor Winfield offered enough protection to get him through the period with passable marks, but when it came to homework Neil helped a hundred times more. Andrew cast a silencing spell and a cloaking spell so none would see them, then sat down, leaning back against Neil’s chest. 

“One of these days you’ll get expelled for doing that in the castle.” Neil always liked to point out when he broke the rules as if he wouldn’t get in trouble as well.

Andrew held the teacup in his hands and looked over the mottled remnants at the bottom. “If they wanted to expel me they would have done it years ago.”

“Maybe they were just waiting for you to turn 17, so they could do it without feeling guilty.”

Andrew reached over his shoulder and covered Neil’s mouth. “Shh, I’m trying to concentrate.”

He focused on the leaves, watching at designs came forward in his mind. He knew Neil was watching his back, allowing him to get lost in the translation. Divination wasn’t a perfect science, making it nearly impossible for him to get a clear read the first time though. Once he got the gist of it he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. At this point other kids would start flipping through their books, looking for the correct imagery, but Andrew just needed to close his eyes and focus to pull all of that information to the front of his mind. 

Love, happiness, life, forever. 

It wasn’t a clear picture, but it was enough.

He leaned forward and turned to Neil, who was still looking out over the rows of shelves, watching for any trespassers. 

“What do you see?” Andrew asked handing him the cup. Neil smiled instantly.

Neil was the kind of person who could easily read emotions and motives from people, which made him incredible at divinations. He was the best in his year by far, perhaps even the best in the school regardless of year. Perhaps even better than Professor Winfield. 

“What were you thinking about when you poured this cup of tea?” Neil asked him, a smile taking over his face.

“I wasn’t trying to do a reading.” Andrew rubbed his hand over his face. “I was having tea before starting this assignment and when I got to the bottom of the cup, I saw that. I poured another cup and got the same thing again. And when it happened a third time, I knew it meant something.”

“Yes, but what were you thinking about?”

Andrew sighed, of course Neil noticed he didn’t answer the question. “You.”

“Me?” Neil smiled at him. “Well, do you want to know what I see here?”

“I already know what you saw, you’re terrible at hiding your emotions.”

“Only from you.”

Neil wiped the cup out with his sleeve, clearing it of every trace of Andrew’s tea leaves, and poured another cup of tea. He wasn’t supposed to have a kettle in the library, but Neil followed the rules about as well and Andrew did. Once he emptied the glass, he leaned over Andrew’s shoulder and looked into it.

Andrew didn’t look until Neil was finished. He could feel the butterflies in his stomach. If Neil’s reading matched his then that would mean something big, if it didn’t then…

If Neil’s reading did not align with his, then they were probably not meant to be.

Both options were terrifying. The idea of soul mates was for children, but prophecies like this meant something. 

Neil chuckled and handed Andrew the teacup. The leaves were significantly more clear than Andrew’s had been.

Life, trust, happiness, belonging, forever.

There was a multitude of ways to assign meaning to any one of the things in either one of their tea leaves, but all together the meaning was clear.

A long life with someone they loved.

“What do you think?” Neil asked.

Andrew tilted his head to the side. “Yours is more clear than mine was.”

“That’s because I was trying to do a reading.” Neil took the cup back and tilted it, looking it over from every angle. “You reading means more, it came spontaneously. It was mottled but strong.”

Andrew took the cup from Neil and set it down on the table. He turned and looked Neil in the eye. “Soul mates are not real.”

“I never said they are.” Neil ran a hand through his hair. “This doesn’t have to be about you. It could be about a friend or a fucking cat for all I know.”

Andrew gave in. “It’s about us.”

“I thought you said there is no us.” Neil calmly through his words back in his face. It was infuriating that he could turn people’s own words around on them like that. “I agree, it probably is. This isn’t a perfect method, just a prediction.”

“A prophecy.”

“Fine, yes. A prophecy.” Neil leaned forward and rested his forehead on Andrew’s. They both closed their eyes. “Does that scare you?”

“Does it scare you?”

Neil sighed. “Yes and no. This is big, but I know how I feel, I already knew that. A cup of tea isn’t going to tell me something new about you.”

Andrew opened his eyes and looked at Neil’s dark lashed on his blushing cheeks. “What if it told me something new about you?”

“What? That I won’t run away?”

“Something like that.”

They started to pack up Neil’s things without getting up from the chair. Dinner would be starting soon and Kevin would worry if Neil was even a few minutes late. Slytherin’s star Seeker could not miss a single meal. Once they were finished Andrew undid his spells, and the walked toward the Great Hall together. 

“Does this mean we can tell people now?” Neil asked as they walked down the empty corridor. 

“I am waiting for them to figure it out.”

“No one’s ever going to figure it out. Hufflepuff’s seventh-year Keeper and Slytherin’s sixth-year Seeker dating? What a scandal.” Neil laughed. “Actually, I’m surprised that hasn’t been a piece of gossip in the Daily Profit yet.”

“Are we dating now?” Andrew asked. He had very clearly kept away from that word for the last few months, since they had started their thing together. 

Neil rolled his eyes. “The tea leaves say we are.”

“Oh yes,” Andrew said as sarcastically as he possibly could. “And the tea leaves never lie.”

They came to a stop in a nook in the last empty corridor, if they turned the corner someone was sure to see them. They always stopped here for a final kiss when they walked to the great hall together, it was the last place they could be  _ them _ before turning into rivals the second someone saw them together. 

Andrew pulled on Neil’s green tie to bring him closer, speaking with his lips barely brushing Neil’s. “I suppose this does mean we are dating. However, you do not get to ruin my fun. Don’t tell anyone until one of them figures it out.”

“Of course not.”

Andrew kissed Neil properly as soon as the last syllable was out of his mouth. It was a short kiss, they always were in the halls, but it was packed with feeling. There was no backing out of this now.

When they broke apart Neil turned the corner and was immediately met with a round of cheers from whatever group of Slytherins happened to be passing by. Everywhere Neil went he was met with a round of cheers from his adoring fans.

Andrew stayed there to process the last half an hour. There was no getting rid of Neil now, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that he really didn’t want to. Neil was right, the tea leaves didn’t tell him anything new, they just reaffirmed what he already felt, deep in his chest of locked away emotions. 


End file.
